Trump Warns GOP Over Ballroom Funding, Trump Gives Iran More Time, Castro Charged
Up First from NPR
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4.6 • 59K Ratings
🗓️ 21 May 2026
⏱️ 13 minutes
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Summary
President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a tense call Tuesday over the direction of the war with Iran as Trump delayed a planned U.S. strike at the request of Gulf leaders concerned about next week’s Hajj pilgrimage.
The U.S. has indicted former Cuban President Raul Castro for his alleged role in the 1996 downing of two planes that killed four Americans, part of the Trump administration’s intensifying pressure campaign on Cuba.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Kelsey Snell, Tina Kraja, Krishnadev Calamur, Mohamad ElBardicy, and Adam Bearne.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh and Nia Dumas.
Our director is Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
And our deputy Executive Producer is Kelley Dickens.
(0:00) Introduction
(01:59) Trump Warns GOP Over Ballroom Funding
(05:39) Trump Gives Iran More Time
(09:34) Castro Charged
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | President Trump is furious that Congress might not give him the money he wants for his ballroom. |
| 0:07.8 | That's because several Republicans don't want to, including an incumbent he targeted in the primaries. |
| 0:12.4 | Are his efforts to get rid of some Republicans in Congress backfiring? |
| 0:16.0 | I'm Layla Fulton. That's A. Martinez, and this is up first from NPR News. |
| 0:22.4 | Israel is pushing the U.S. to resume the war on Iran. |
| 0:25.2 | Gulf allies are pushing for the opposite. |
| 0:27.6 | There was a contentious call between President Trump and Israel's prime minister. |
| 0:31.2 | For now, Trump says he's willing to give Iran more time. |
| 0:34.4 | And federal prosecutors indict former Cuban president, Raul Castro. They say he ordered |
| 0:38.8 | planes to be shot down 30 years ago, killing four U.S. nationals. Castro is 94 years old and not |
| 0:44.2 | in U.S. custody, but the acting attorney general says he expects Castro will show up in court |
| 0:49.5 | one way or another. Stay with us. We've got all the news you need to start your day. |
| 1:04.2 | Republicans in Congress are racing to approve billions of dollars for immigration enforcement. |
| 1:10.2 | But President Trump is fuming about what may not be in that package money for the White House ballroom. |
| 1:11.8 | That's after several Republicans said they would oppose it. They include Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. He just lost his primary |
| 1:17.5 | after Trump supported someone else. And it's all fueling questions about whether Trump's efforts |
| 1:22.7 | to target GOP incumbents are backfiring. Joining us now to discuss is NPR congressional reporter Sam Greenglass. |
| 1:30.6 | So Sam, Lela, just mentioned, may not be in that package. |
| 1:34.0 | What actually is in the funding package? |
| 1:37.1 | Yeah, Republicans want to fund ICE and Border Patrol for the rest of Trump's term. |
| 1:42.2 | We're talking about approving $72 billion using a tool |
| 1:46.2 | known as budget reconciliation. That maneuver allows Republicans to circumvent Democrats |
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